The door in the sky
by Feyregalathynius
Summary: Tog/Acotar crossover. What if part of Rhys' power went though the portal to Erilea, and some of Aelin's stays in Prythian, forcing the portal to re-open. Spoilers for KoA and ACoFaS. Rated T because I don't know what's going to happen yet. Veria, Alyrah, Arion, Lexia, Sorcha, Gavriel, Sam, Lyria, Elvira, Leiy and Haile are mine, everything else belongs to Sarah J. Maas.
1. Velaris

*Feyre PoV*

Feyre hunched over, back aching. She had nearly finished her art classes for the day, and _really_ wanted to sit at her own easel and wait for the class to end. But the student before her, Veria, needed help and she was not about to say no.

"There!" She said, pleased. "That painting is absolutely perfect."

Veria smiled back at her, basking in praise as the town clock began to chime 16:00. With the help of Ressina, she began to usher the children out and quickly cleared up the studio.

She felt a flicker of love down her mating bond, before a frantic message

 _Leiy and Haile are wreaking havoc here. Help?_

Sighing, she said goodbye to Ressina and winnowed out to the river house. As soon as she arrived in her quarters, the series of bedrooms belonging to herself, her mate and their children, the issue became obvious. Leiy and Haile were having a huge fight, their untrained magic filling the room and battering the edges of Rhys' shield. He was in the middle of it, trying to pull them apart and failing.

With a sigh, she slid through the shield and helped Rhys pull them apart.

"What happened this time?" She asked, preparing herself for the twin mental images her children would send her.

Haile, their son (who was 10 years old), showed Leiy in his room arranging his books in alphabetical order. He was angry because he didn't want them like that, so he had gone into her room and began to order her books by publication date (the way _he_ liked it). When she came in and asked what was going on, he simply replied that if she could mess up his books, why couldn't he? They started arguing, and then fighting.

Leiy, their daughter (who was 6 years old), told pretty much the same story (for once)

"So Leiy thought she was helping by tidying your room, you thought it was already tidy, and when you couldn't resolve it like the clever people I know you are, you started fighting." She sighed, then sent a message to Rhys. _We do need to punish them, because they can't be doing this again_. _How about we say that neither of them are allowed to touch their books until this time tomorrow?_ The reply came back as _Good idea._

That evening, Leiy and Haile had made up thanks to their shared plight, and dinner that night took place in blessed peace. The dining room at the river house was packed - Amren and Varian were constantly leaping in with corrections, Azriel and his mate Alyrah were silent as ever, Cassian and Nesta were constantly making sarcastic comments as their son Arion (8 years old) looked on, Mor and her lover Elvira making everyone laugh as Elain and Lucien played with their 3 year old daughter Lexia.

Suddenly, Nuala and Cerridwen burst in, becoming corporeal as they announced,

"We have a problem."


	2. Ornyth

*Aelin PoV*

Aelin sighed, and considered jumping out of the window.

She had been in a meeting with the lords of Terrassen for over three hours, and was no closer to an agreement than she had been when they started. She had finally worked out a plan to give the people representatives in how their country was governed, brought it before the lords and hit ... problems. Only Darrow seemed to consider it, the others instead arguing that they knew how to rule while the people had no experience at all. She'd just sat and let them rant, unable to find a gap in which to speak.

"If you're _quite_ finished _,_ may I respond?" She asked, annoyed. Not waiting for a response, she continued. "You may know how to _rule_ the people, but you do not know what it's like to _be_ one of them. No one in this room can claim that. They need to have a say. My plan sets out that _every_ legislative decision goes through representatives chosen by the people in each region of Terrassen. We still come up with the legislation and decide if we think it is useful, but the people have to agree. Is that acceptable for you?"

The Lords were momentarily shell shocked. They never considered that my plan might actually be a good one. They never did. They hadn't even read the information in front of them.

Then, they agreed to consider, and pass on their verdict on the following day.

Hopping out of her chair, she walked as smartly as she could to the door, where Rowan had been standing guard. She collapsed into his arms, then squealed as he lifted her up bridal-style and carried her to the queen's room. She expected her children (Lyria and Sam, twins who were 8 years old) to come running over as they usually did, their sharp ears picking up the sound of the door opening, but there was no sign of them.

"Rowan, where did you leave the kids?"

"In the garden, why?"

"Why did you leave them out there? Tell me you at least put a shield around the plants and the garden wall."

"The plants? Yes. Why would I put one around the garden wall?"

As fast as she could, she ran out into the garden and climbed up the wall.

"What the hell Fireheart? You could fall from up there ... oh."

Below them, clinging to the small ledge that hung out half way down the wall, was Sam, using all the strength of his fae form to cling on. He had inherited his mother's power over fire, but all he inherited from his father was ice. His other form was human, and not very helpful given the situation. Lyria had inherited her father's hawk form, and was attempting to haul him up onto the ledge. She had inherited mastery of _all_ her parent's abilities, and was slowly succeeding with her wind magic to ease the strain on his arms. Sighing, Rowan added the strength of his magic to Lyria's, and pulled them up to the spot where he could simply pull Sam over, into the garden.

"What could you possibly have been thinking?" She yelled after they had both landed safely in the garden. "Sam could have been killed! You need to be more careful!"

Meeting Rowan's eye, she conveyed _Dorian and Manon are coming over tonight. They both like to play with Josefin, so we'll seat them at opposite ends of the table. Then pack them straight off to bed._ Rowan's smile was answer enough.

That afternoon, the royals of Ardalan arrived into Ornyth. The people had mostly forgiven the events preceding her reign, but they did not give as large a fanfare as they could have. They entered the great hall, and sat down for a formal dinner. Dorian looked around the room and asked

"Is it just us?"

"I didn't want a repeat of last time." She replied. The resulting brawl had been spectacular but ... it was a bad idea. Aelin took the centre of the table, with Rowan on the right. Aedion and Lysandra sat next to him with their son, Gavriel, constantly butting in to conversations with quips. Elide and Lorcan were also there, calm and collected as ever. Dorian and Manon sat to her left, a hand each on Manon's swollen stomach. The baby was due in a few months. Chaol and Yrene sat beside Manon, there daughter Josefin straining to see Sam and Lyria at the opposite end of the table.

They were halfway through the meal when Nox Owen - Nox Owen, of all people, the man she had not seen since she helped him escape Rifthold - burst in, panting "Aedion, you need to see this."


	3. The door

*Rhys PoV*

Rhys flew up to the siphon shield, and called out, "What is here that we so desperately need to see - and guard so strongly?"

"See for yourself. It's hard to explain." Devlon, for once, wasn't sneering. "Open the shield! Now!"

He flew through the hole in the shield, closely followed by Azriel, Cassian and Feyre. Shimmering in the air in front of him was ... an impossibility. A place where you could reach out a hand and go from high over the Illyrian steppes to ... somewhere else. Probably not somewhere in that world.

"Why did this portal open _now_?" Cassian was pouting. "It could have chose a more convenient time." Indeed. The integration cities (places along where the wall meant to be for both human and fae) were due to open in a few weeks.

 _Rhys?_ Feyre's voice echoed in his mind.

 _What is it?_

 _How long has it been since_ that night _when I was pregnant with Haile?_ He had to think about that.

 _About 10 1/2 years, why?_

 _You said two people can send their power through where someone was winnowing from each side, and a portal would appear. And that it took between 10 and 12 years to form._

 _So your saying that this portal leads to wherever that flicker went?_

 _I think so._

 _How about we send them a note?_

 _Why not?_

He was still grinning as he threw a note through that door.

All that was left to do was wait. They weren't there for long.

*Aelin PoV*

Aelin was in utter shock ant the sight of Nox Owen, who Aedion seemed to trust completely, so she just ran after them instinctively.

They reached the courtyard, where the gateman recognised her and yelled

"Make way for the Queen!"

Nox spun around in surprise.

" _The Queen! Where?_ But that's Celaena! It's been years! And - you're fae! You clearly have a story to tell"

"Yes Nox. It's been years since I started going by my real name. Aelin Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius."

"Bullshit."

At that point, she was save from further explanation by Rowan running into the the courtyard.

"Since when were you faster than me?"

"Since you had to put the children to bed before you came here."

"Fireheart."

"Buzzard."

Nox Owen still had his mouth wide open at the exchange, as if being forced to realise she was telling the truth. And besides, the resemblance between her and Aedion was hard to ignore. But by then the horses had been saddled, and they sped off to the war camp.

When they arrived, the bane were stood to attention at the sight of their Queen, King-consort and General. Kyllian ran up to them as they dismounted, announcing

"Your Majesties! General! It's this way."

Aelin followed them, but looked back at Rowan, who grinned and told her _We could have run here in half that time._

 _So touchy. In case you didn't notice, humans can't run as fast as us._

 _We could have just left them behind._

 _So rude, Buzzard._

By then they had reached what the bane guarded at the centre of the makeshift camp. Like on the other side, what they saw was - an impossibility. Rowan and Lorcan threw up shields instantly, to protect against anything coming through. But all that appeared was a small note. Aelin picked it up, despite Aedion and Rowan's barked protests, and read it.

 _10 years, 6 months, 12 days, 7 hours, 6 minuets and 51 seconds ago, a flicker of power that appeared to be female appeared in our realm. I am Rhysand, high lord of the night court, and I would like to speak with whoever that power belonged to. I hope we can learn from each other. Please reply with permission for me and my court to pass through._

Aelin gasped, and muttered "No way. There is absolutely no way..."

"Fireheart?" She turned around to face Rowan, who asked _what's wrong._

She passed him the note, saying "That was _me._ The flicker of power was _me,_ when I came back through the gate..."

"Calm down Fireheart, it's not all that surprising. Shall we let them through?"

"He helped me before. I don't see why not."

As the return note slid back through, she hoped her county was ready for a second state visit in the same day. She sent Fenrys back to the castle to warn the chefs, but ...she was still worried. But there wasn't really time to worry, because that was a foot sliding through the portal. She straightened up, ready to meet the people from this other world, and wondered what would happen next.


	4. New Arrivals

*Rowan PoV*

Rowan couldn't understand how the new people could stomach it. The simple _wrongness_ of just _stepping_ between places that were worlds apart - literally. He was even more shocked by the presence of power that radiated off the group in waves. By the way they stood, it was immediately obvious who lead the group. At the front was a stunningly beautiful male, his pointed ears easily marking him as fae, however he did not seem to have canines like Rowan's own. Strange. But what was even stranger was the batlike wings protruding from his shoulder blades. His raven-black hair was short and combed with a small silver crown atop it. His violet eyes were assessing the group, with his arm close around the female beside him. She too had pointed ears and no canines, but she did not have the wings. Her golden-brown hair hung around her shoulders, while her striking blue-grey eyes met Aelin's. That look - it was one passed between queens. For that was indeed a diadem atop her head. Besides, the mating bond between the two at the front was easy to scent. Behind them, a golden haired female and her dark haired opposite were trying to calm down two children, obviously belonging to the pair at the front, who were trying to peer around to see what was going on. Beside them another winged male had his hand in that of a female next to him, who was holding back a child (very obviously theirs). The male had the same raven hair and the one at the front, but his eyes were hazel and his ears weren't pointed. He had seven red stones dotted around his intricate armour, each radiating power. Behind them stood a tiny female, whose black hair and silver eyes were frankly terrifying, which made the fact she stood so close to the dark skinned male beside her all the more surprising. There was also another winged male, holding onto a winged female beside him. His stones were blue, and shadows curled around them both. The two could have been twins if not for the way they looked at each other. Or the mating bond between them. Finally, there was a brown haired female with brown eyes cradling a red haired baby girl. From the way the male beside her looked at them, it was easy to tell who the father was. He had the same red hair as the child, but one of his eyes was made of metal. It whirred and clicked, behaving almost like a real eye.

The groups stood watching each other, wary but calm, until...

Until Aelin opened her mouth.

*Azriel PoV*

Azriel's shadows slid around the group, testing. Sensing, but not engaging. They hissed in his ear, and he could feel his mate's shadows doing the same. The female at the front, her golden hair waving past her shocking turquoise-and-gold eyes, obviously the leader of the group, had mastery over fire. She looked like a High Fae, but her elongated canines spoke otherwise. The male beside her, their mating bond easily scented, had white hair and green eyes, his mastery of ice and wind very powerful. He also had the strange canines, as did the two males behind him. The first didn't seem to have much special about him, just stronger physical traits than the rest and a talent for winnowing. The second's power spoke of death, and destruction. It reminded him of Nesta's. Beside him was a golden haired man, almost twin to the woman at the front. He would have thought them siblings if not for his lack of pointed ears. He had no powers, but he smelt like the other fae. Demi-fae, then. Maybe a half-sibling or cousin. He waited for someone to say something.

The woman at the front spoke first, drawling, "Why don't we get the fancy titles out of the way. If we're going to be _such_ good friends, we should at least know each other's names."

Rhys chuckled, but obliged her. "I am Rhysand, High Lord of the Night Court, but since we're friends now you can call me Rhys. Everyone who likes me does." This earned him a small laugh from the female at the front. "This is Feyre, my mate, wife and High Lady of the Night Court." Feyre smiled and said,

"I'm not illiterate any more you know. I can speak for myself." This made the other group start, especially the dark haired male at the back.

"Aanyway..." Rhys continued, "The pair of naughty midgets behind me are my son Haile and my daughter Leiy. The two _slightly_ more sensible and _much_ taller females trying to stop them making complete fools of themselves are my third in command and emissary to the continent, Morrigan, and Elvira, my emissary to the other courts." Mor then leaped in before anyone could say anything else, announcing, "Rhys can be such a bore sometimes. Please call me Mor. Everyone who likes me does." This earned her a few smilies.

Rhys cleared his throat, and continued,

"This idiot is Cassian, he's the general of my armies, and this is Nesta, Feyre's sister and our emissary to the court of nightmares."

Nesta told the other group,

"This little bat is our son Arion, and if any of you try to hurt him you will die a horrible and painful death." Her cheerful smile was at odds with her words, which seemed to unnerve a few of the soldiers in the camp around them. Not the group in front though. On the contrary, the man with the golden hair chuckled and announced,

"I like her." Rhys cleared his throat and continued,

"This is Amren, my second in command. I warn you now, do not try to steal her jewellery. Just don't." This earned some wary looks, replied to by Amren's serpentine smile. Sighing, Rhys continued, "This is Varian, Prince of Adriata." Varian simply nodded. "And this silent pair are Azriel, my spymaster, and his mate and fellow spy Alyrah. Don't be fooled, they do posses the ability to speak. Not that they show it much." He smiled, and nodded. His shadows sensed Alyrah do the same. "And finally, this is Elain, Feyre's other sister and our resident florist. She's the only reason all the plants in our garden are still alive. The quietly annoying male next to her is Lucien, our emissary to the human lands. The redhead child over here is Lexia, their daughter. Now, who exactly are you?"

*Aelin PoV*

The explanation hit her like a ton of bricks. The male at the front clearly shared her sense of humour, and most of the titles whizzed straight over her head. The leading female's former illiteracy was very surprising, as she seemed like a very well-suited ruler. He obviously loved his children, and the two females with them were obviously way more than 'just friends'. She was also very surprised that he seemed to be very comfortable calling the winged army commander an 'idiot' considering his many scars. The woman next to him was one to watch. There was strength in those eyes. Amren - well, she was damn terrifying. Something about her made her magic scream "Run! Hide! Now!". It was no surprise that the male next to her was so relaxed. His calm to her storm. The two spy's caught her attention. They were the ones to watch, knives in the dark. And the male - on his hands. Those were burn scars. She shuddered to think what they must have been like to get. The last two were interesting. So calm and at odds with all of the others in the group. She thought Elide would like them.

Then the male at the front - Rhys - asked, "Now, who exactly are you?"

Aelin smiled, and replied,

"Aelin Ashryver Whitethorn Galathynius, Queen of Terrasen." Gesturing to the area around them, Feyre questioned,

"I assume this is Terrasen?"

"Indeed it is." Before she could say anything else, Aelin continued. "This grump is Rowan Whitethorn Galathynius, my husband, mate and King-consort of Terrasen." Rhys nodded, a gesture between one king and another. "These two are Fenrys Moonbeam and Lorcan Salvaterre. They are both blood sworn to me." She leaned over conspiratorially and whispered, "Lorcan comes over as all broody but that's because we're _still_ in the adjustment period." Rowan, Fenrys and Aedion snickered. Thankfully, the other group seemed to find it funny too. In Aedion's own words, the winged male Cassian whispered,

"I like her!"

"Last, but not least," She drawled, "This is Aedion Ashryver, my cousin and general of my armies. He is also blood-sworn to me. Now why don't we meet the rest of my court?"

Rhys smiled and announced, "Take us wherever you need to go."

Aelin smirked and replied, "Fenrys, are you _sure_ the palace chefs are ready?"

"Confident?" He ventured.

"That will do for now." She chuckled, then turned back to the newcomers. "Let's head to Ornyth."

With that, she broke down the shield and headed for her horse.


	5. On the subject of food

*Feyre PoV*

Feyre was damn confused. The obviously powerful fae just walked towards the horses like they couldn't winnow. Maybe winnowing didn't exist here. She voiced her concern, calling,

"You don't winnow?"

"What's winnowing?" Called the dark haired fae, brows furrowing in confusion.

Well, that answered her question.

"It's like sliding between the folds of the world. Like this." And with that, she winnowed across the courtyard. Some of the soldiers cried out in shock, but the fae simply exclaimed , "Like what Fenrys can do!" She turned and looked at the golden haired male, who simply winnowed onto his horse, and promptly fell off.

This left everyone in fits of laughter, except for Aelin who simply asked,

"Can everyone in your world do this?"

"No," she replied, "not everyone has sufficient power."

"Could you teach us?" That came from the dark haired one - Lorcan.

"We could try, how..."

"Hey!" Cassian called out.

"What now?" That was Azriel, whose eyes rolled at the comment.

"I don't know if I'm going deaf or what, but I heard someone say something about food.

"Of course." Nesta sighed. "With you it's always food."

Cassian looked extremely offended, but before they could get into it, Aelin announced, "We would be simply _honoured_ to feed you." Feyre sighed, then told the assembled fae,

"This is why we don't normally take him on state visits."

Several fae laughed at that. Aelin then asked, "Can you winnow to our home if we describe it, or do you have to have been there first?"

"We have to at least have seen the destination. I suppose we could do it in short hops, but not all of us can winnow." That was Rhys, who had walked up from behind to slide an arm round her waist.

Aelin sighed, then announced, "Horses it is then. For now."

*3rd Person*

The already confused war camp soon had their fastest horses saddled and watched the most powerful rulers of two separate worlds race away on their horses, with no bodyguard detail.


End file.
